Home
by Bitter Grace
Summary: Stupid, stupid little tiny fic I wrote one day when I was really bored. It goes nowhere in plot development, just in exploring Van and Hitomi's characters. Takes place during the episode or whatever she returns to Earth.


My Angel
    
    
    Vision of Escaflowne
    HOME
    >>It's over.<<
    Hitomi sat on her bed with her knees drawn up to her chin,
    staring miserably out her window. Her short hair and white shift
    stirred gently in the breeze coming from the open pane, and then papers
    began to blow around the room as the wind kicked unexpectedly up. The
    stars were brighter than she'd ever seen them in the city.
    >>He's out there, somewhere, in all that expanse of sky.<<
    Tears flowed down her cheeks. Memory spiked her mind. The
    wrenching, the longing, coming home after she'd been gone forever.
    Finding nothing had changed, no time had passed.
    And now it wasn't even home anymore. Home had become Gaea.
    Home was with a certain, stubborn, dark-haired king of a destroyed
    country.
    Three days. Three days since she'd woken up in the infirmary.
    Three days since she'd last been with Van. And their last conversation
    just had to have been an argument.
    >>Van. I didn't mean to leave you. It just...happened. I never
    got the chance to tell you...<<
    Feathers floated by the window, and she focussed on them with a
    small cry of anguish. Floating on the wind, a small, white downy
    feather landed on the back of her hand. She stared at it for long
    moments, remembering the first time she fell, and the white-winged
    other half of her soul who had saved her.
    Sobs racking her body, Hitomi gave herself over to her grief.
    >>It's over. One run changed my life. Now it's back again, and
    I don't want it.<< She sniffled into her knee, then a thought wandered
    into her mind.
    >>Or can I change it again?<<
    ******
    Three days. Three long, lonely days since Hitomi had left.
    >>Hitomi. Why did you have to leave me? Why did you leave?<<
    Standing on the bridge where Hitomi had saved his life several
    nights ago, Van Fanel looked up at the round sphere of hte Mystic Moon,
    so far away yet so tantalyzingly close to Gaea. 
    "Lord Van?"
    Merle's voice came hesitantly, uncertainly. Van couldn't
    resist a half-hearted smile. It could have only took something as
    serious as his heart breaking for the cat-girl to quiet down. "Yes,
    Merle? What is it?"
    Merle crouched at the edge of the river, the expression on her
    face stating that she would love to be anywhere but right here with a
    grieving Van. The tiger stripes on her face shone fiercely in the
    moonlight. "Lord Allen and Princess Millerna wish to speak to you
    about... about Hitomi."
    He turned away with a rough jerk, returning his gaze to the
    stars. "It can wait," he said simply.
    "But..."
    "It can wait."
    He didn't even hear Merle leave, though he did hear her sigh
    with worry. He stared up into the inky black heavens, obsessed by the
    sight of the Mystic Moon.
    >>It's so big, so bright. Does Hitomi really live there, or
    was she just a fantastic dream?<< A thought struck him suddenly, an odd
    thought that just wandered into his mind of its own violition.
    >>It doesn't look that far away. I wonder...Would Escaflowne
    reach it?<<
    Smiling fully for the first time in three days, the king of
    Fanelia went in search of his guymelef.
    ******
    "You're sure you want to do this?" Yukari asked hesitantly,
    clasping her hands together in entreaty for Hitomi to reconsider. She
    looked at her friend, who was stretching, preparing for her run. "It
    could have been a dream."
    Hitomi paused, looking up from the ground. Slowly, she
    straightened, and looked her best friend in the eyes. "I have to get
    back," she said, enunciating every word carefully. "I have to do
    this."
    Yukari watched Hitomi with careful, saddened eyes. She nodded
    once. "Okay. As long as you're sure."
    "I'm sure."
    She took her place. Amano waited at the edge of the track,
    holding the blood red pendant in his hand.
    ******
    "VAN!"
    He no longer heard their cries, their pathetic attempts to
    chase him with their inferior guymelefs. When Escaflowne was in its
    dragon form, no one could catch it, no one could keep up with it.
    >>Hitomi. I'm coming.<<
    ******
    "GO!"
    She no longer felt anything but the drive to return to Gaea.
    She ran, the ground flying beneath her feet. When she was in her
    element, nothing, not even the wind could catch her.
    >>Van. I'm coming.<<
    ******
    >>Air...not so much...air up...here. Got to...keep
    conscious...get to...Hitomi...<<
    Light exploded in his eyes.
    ******
    >>Lungs burning....can't stop running....got to keep...
    running...Van...<<
    Light exploded in her eyes.
    ******
    Somewhere, in a place that defied existence, their hands
    touched, and she was in his arms.
    ******
    "Van," Hitomi whispered, clinging to him as Escaflowne returned
    them to Gaea. Tears of ecstasy filled her eyes, and her arms tightened
    around his chest until she could almost hear his ribs creak. "Van."
    "Hitomi." His arms were just as fierce around her body as hers
    were around his. His voice whispered her name countless times, his
    eyes streaming tears. "Hitomi, don't leave me again."
    "Never again," she promised softly, burying her face in his
    shoulder, breathing in his scent. Below her spread a land she had
    thought she would never see again.
    Home.
    


End file.
